Forgotten Foes
by JMProfio
Summary: Set after the Book 10 time reset. Robert Pendragon is 28, returning to his old school. There he runs into some old friends, as well as some old enemies who seem to know more about his past then he can remember. Quite a lot of Bobby/Saint Dane shipping.


The school gymnasium was crowded with people, lights and music. A large banner hung over the entrance, labeled "Davis High School 10-Year Reunion". Robert sat in a corner, holding a cup of punch in his hands and trying as hard as he could not to be noticed. It wasn't that he hadn't been popular in high school; he _had_. He just didn't particularly feel like meeting up with old friends tonight.

"Bobby!" A voice called from a few feet away. "Bobby Pendragon, is that you?"

He looked up to see a tall, thin man with a dark ponytail, smiling at him through a thin pair of glasses. The man's name tag read, "Mark Dimond".

"Mark?" Robert said, trying his hardest to look like he was enjoying himself. "God, I almost didn't recognize you. How long's it been? 3 years?"

"Seven," Mark corrected. "I haven't seen you since college." He sat down next to him, adjusting his glasses the same way he had when they were teens. "How's everything? I heard you and Courtney split."

Robert shrugged. "Yeah, it wasn't really going anywhere. And I heard she moved to New York, to be an actress or something."

"What about you? Still trying to be a writer?"

He laughed halfheartedly. "Trying. Right now that's still a work in progress. I just got hired here, actually. Teaching English. What about you?"

"NASA," Mark answered. "I'm helping design some new robots to send into space for data collection. I call the program D.A.D.O—the Dimond Alpha Digital Organization."

"Impressive. I need to try a bit harder, huh?"

The two laughed.

"But really," Robert said. "It's nice to see you again, Mark."

Out in the throng of people, a figure caught his eye. The man was tall and thin, with long black hair and a dark suit. And he was staring directly at Robert, with icy lightning blue eyes. The gaze was unnerving, as if the man somehow knew everything about him.

"Who's that?" he asked, directing Mark's attention to the man.

Mark stared for a moment, then snapped his fingers as he remembered. "Andy Mitchell. You remember him, don't you?"

"_That's_ Andy Mitchell?"

Of course he remembered Andy. How could he forget the biggest bully in his entire high school years? But to think that _that_ man was Andy—it seemed impossible. The Andy he remembered was blonde, muscled, and crude, the definition of a bad apple; this man's hair was black, and he was tall and thin, carrying himself with a smooth grace across the room when he moved.

"I heard he cleaned up his act a few years back," Mark said. "Got a job at a modeling agency. I always thought he'd be dead before twenty five."

"He's definitely...changed," Robert said. He found himself unable to look away from the man, trapped by those lightning blue orbs. Eventually, Andy looked away, and Robert realized that he'd been staring for several minutes. He stood up, excusing himself from the room as quickly as he could.

* * *

Outside the school, night had fallen several hours before. It was cold, and the scent of rain drifted on the breeze. Robert sat on the front steps, staring aimlessly up at the clouds. It was probably going to start raining soon, he realized; but he sat on the steps, even as the first drops of water began to fall.

"Is there a reason you're trying to make yourself sick?"

He jumped out of his reverie, turning to see who had spoken. Andy stood a few feet behind him, watching him curiously. The man seemed to almost blend in with the shadows, but his eyes shone like spotlights in the darkness.

"You're Pendragon, right?" he asked, sitting down next to him. "Robert Pendragon?"

"Yeah," Robert answered. "You're Andy, right?"

"I go by Dane now," the man corrected. "No one's called me Andy in a long time. And I'm afraid I've been rather cruel to you in the past."

Robert could hardly believe this was the same person. He looked and acted entirely different than the Andy Mitchell he remembered. And that name—Dane. Why did it sound so familiar? The name and face echoed in his mind, but the memory remained just outside of his reach.

"You weren't that bad," he said. "I mean, sure, you were a bully, but you never did anything too bad."

Dane stared at him for a moment, as if there was something he wanted to say, then he simply sighed and looked away. "I'm afraid the things I've done are worse than you can remember."

Robert patted him on the shoulder. "It couldn't have been anything too bad. High school is high school."

"I suppose I just regret the things I've done. Even if you can't remember the worst."

He stared at this strange, frail man, wondering how he could have seemed so menacing in their high school years. And those eyes stared back, hypnotizing him. How had he never realized how beautiful those eyes were? Wait. Beautiful? Had he _really _just thought that this man was _beautiful? _Well, now that he considered it, Dane _was _beautiful. Extremely so.

"Are you feeling alright, Robert?"

He jumped, realizing that he had been staring again. "Um, yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit tired, I guess."

"Do you need a ride home?"

"I'll be fine. I can walk from here, no problem."

Dane looked at him with concern. "Could I walk with you? Just to make sure you get home alright?"

Robert gave a confused shrug. "Alright. It's just around the corner."

* * *

They walked in silence for a few minutes, and Robert found himself wishing he could see the stars. But the light fall of rain suggested several hours still before that would be possible. Whenever he thought the other wasn't looking, he stole small glances at Dane, still marveling at the sheer beauty of the man. After a few minutes of this, Dane looked at him quizzically.

"Is there something you'd like to say?" he asked. "You keep staring at me."

Robert looked away quickly. "It's nothing."

He debated telling the truth. About how lovely he thought Dane was, about how mesmerizing his eyes were, but his train of thought was interrupted by a low growl. Looking ahead in the darkness, he spotted a pair of golden yellow eyes staring at them both. As his vision adjusted to the shadows, he saw that it was a large dog blocking their path, teeth bared and ready too strike.

Dane cursed, moving quickly in front of Robert. "I can distract it," he said, "But only for a moment. You need to run."

"What about you?" Robert asked.

The blue-eyed man smirked. "You don't need to worry about me. I've been through worse. As soon as it goes after me, run. Got it?"

"Got it. I hope you know what you're doing."

Dane laughed bitterly. "More than you know, Robert."

The dog lunged, and Dane kicked out, hitting it square in the chest. The beast went flying, but was up again in a heartbeat, clamping its jaws around his left arm. He managed to shake it off and dodge the next few attacks, but the dog showed no sign of weakening.

"Robert!" he shouted. "What are you doing? I told you to run!"

Robert stood stock-still, watching the scene before him in mute shock. From behind him, he heard another low growl, and turned to see a second dog preparing to strike. Without a moment's hesitation, he darted forward, grabbed Dane by the arm, and pulled him down the street at a full run.

They ran for what seemed like hours, taking random turns until he was convinced that the dogs had stopped pursuing. When they finally stopped to catch their breath, Robert realized they were back outside the school building.

"I've never seen wild dogs in this neighborhood before," he said, glancing nervously around to make sure they weren't following.

Dane grabbed his wrist, and flinched slightly. "They weren't wild. They belong to an old acquaintance. We had a rather bad falling out, and her reactions tend to be a bit over the top."

"So those dogs were after you?"

"Both of us. And they'll be back; we need to get somewhere safe."


End file.
